FDI is need of the hour

In the period of weakening economy, the nation urgently needs foreign investment to strengthen it. FDI in multi-brand will not only make our market competitive but also offer the consumers with many options to make their purchasing of daily needs. They will get competitive market and price. FDI will also bring down prices and do away with middlemen to benefit farmers as they will have direct interaction with the shopping malls. There are a number of big shopping malls in every big city already running before the FDI in multi-brand retails. There is also no example in the nation that a small shopkeeper had to close down his shop because of coming up of big malls. So, the opposition explanation against FDI that it will destroy business of small shopkeeper is baseless and politically motivated. The motion for debate on FDI in multi-brand retail has been moved by the leader of the opposition Sushama Swaraj in Lok Sabha and it has also the support of CPI (M). So, the BJP and the Left are on the same page against the government's decision to bring FDI in multi-brand retail. The motion of debate has been moved under the article 184 in Lok Sabha and 168 in Rajya Sabha and both entail voting. UPA Government is confident of the numbers in Lok Sabha and they will sail through Lok Sabha comfortably. Their main difficulty is in Rajya Sabha to get through as they are short of numbers there. Both Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party support the UPA Government from outside but both are opposed to FDI. Both the ruling SP and the Opposition BSP in Uttar Pradesh are arch rivals. They support the UPA government in the name of secularism avowedly but have their interest in keeping it running. They also want to keep the Hindu-leaning party the BJP out of power at the Centre. Internally, no political party wants untimely Lok Sabha elections. But as the political graph of the ruling Congress-led UPA has gone down because of several corruption charges against them and their failure to rein in price rise, BJP wants Lok Sabha elections in near future before schedule to encash the people’s disillusionment with the ruling coalition. Though both the SP and the BSP have not shown their intention whether to vote with the Govt or not, they will decidedly go with it and will certainly come to its rescue. Both SP and BSP support the UPA to save their skins of secularism. SP being the ruling party in UP, it needs to have a friendly UPA government at the Centre. BSP has also got assurance from UPA to support the Bill for reservation in promotion for Dalits and tribals. Congress party has never tasted defeat on the floor of the House. So if history repeats itself, the Congress-led UPA will come out victorious in Rajya Sabha also on the issue of FDI.